Assassin
by Hyperactive Lioness
Summary: Fire Lord Ozai has a new tactic; sending a feared assassin after the Avatar and his friends, but not to kill them, to gain their trust. Beginning in season two, all the way to the finale.
1. Prologue

**Hello! So I haven't been writing any fanfictions for a while, but I got this idea the other day while watching Avatar (of course), and I decided to just roll with it. :)**

**This is set right after the Season One finale.**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Avatar, all rights belong to the amazing Brian and Mike!**

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_"You get in, you get done and then you get gone_

_You never leave a trace or show your face, you get gone"_

_-Assassin, by John Mayer_

**Assassin**

**Prologue:**

"You called for me, my lord?" The youth's black cloak rustled as he knelt before the wall of fire separating him from the throne. After a lengthy silence, the dared to glance up at the Fire Lord's face, which was hidden in shadows. "My lord?"

Ozai still didn't speak, and the dark-haired boy began to get nervous, which didn't happen very often. Until-- "You are an assassin, yes? A trained killer?" The Fire Lord motioned with his hand, and the boy arose gratefully.

"Yes, I am, my lord. Best in the business, if you'd pardon me saying so."

"How does one obtain such a reputation at your age, fifteen, I believe?" The boy nodded.

"You simply eliminate the competition, my lord."

Ozai chuckled. "I might like you, boy. Now, to business. As a Fire Nation citizen, you must have heard that the Avatar has returned."

"You want me to kill the Avatar?"

"No, not quite." Ozai rose from his throne and began pacing back and forth, the fire flickering dangerously. "I want you to track and find the Avatar and his traveling companions. Once you find them, you will gain their trust."

"My lord?" The youth sounded dumbstruck, he wasn't the first person you would go to for matters of trust. A slow grin spread over the Fire Lord's features.

"Yes," he mused, his voice dipping into what was almost a growl. "Gain their trust. And when they stray into Fire Nation territory, that is when we will strike."

"Very good, my lord. I accept the mission." Like he had a choice.

"Excellent. Masquerade how you would like, just do not betray that you are of the Fire Nation."

"I would never dream of it, my lord."

"My daughter, Azula, will also be tracking the Avatar, but her real goal is in Ba Sing Se; her chase is simply a smokescreen. The Avatar is all yours."

"It is an honor, Fire Lord Ozai, but what of Prince Zuko?"

"I no longer know where his loyalties lie. I do believe it is time for him to return home. You are dismissed, Raizo."

The assassin bowed and exited.

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**There you have it, the prologue! I'm sorry it was so short, and I think I'll have the first chapter up soon. I hope you liked it, and you'll see the Gaang in the next chapter! :)**

**Review!**

**:Hyperactive Lioness:**


	2. Chapter 1

**I promised the first chapter would be out soon, and here it is! Don't forget to review ;)**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Avatar... At all :)**

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**Chapter One: **

_:Two weeks later:_

The giant bison landed, a cloud of dust kicked up into the air by its six legs. A slight, bald boy slid down the beast's muzzle, a wooden staff clenched in his hand. Two blue-clad youths, a girl and a boy, leaped off of the saddle on the bison's back.

"Don't _even _say it again, Sokka," the girl said, sounding exasperated, twisting a finger through one of the loops in her brown hair. "We're lost."

"Not _lost_," Sokka said, glancing around at their surroundings. "We're just--"

"_Taking a planned detour_," the girl and the bald boy finished together. Sokka glared at them.

"Fine. You know what, fine, Katara. We're lost. And blame it on the guy with the maps. But I'm not the one _steering_ Appa..."

"You're going to go and blame this on Aang?" Katara yelled. "No, this is your fault, and don't even deny it, Sokka. You've been out of sorts ever since we've left the Northern Water Tribe."

"Yeah," Aang broke in jokingly, trying to lighten the mood. "Next, you'd probably get mad at Momo for not being able to _smell _Omashu." The flying lemur swooped down and landed on Aang's shoulder, chattering all the while. Sokka breathed out heavily.

"You're probably right." He sank down to sit beside one of Appa's feet. "We're lost." The bison growled in agreement. Katara shot her brother a look of loathing.

"Ever since you met Yue, Sokka, all else has fallen--" she stopped suddenly as her brother's face reddened and his blue eyes gleamed with unshed tears. "Sokka... I'm sorry, I forgot." He rose back to his feet, swiped at his eyes with a blue shirtsleeve, and shook his head.

"I'm fine, Katara. Now help me figure out where we are."

Aang used airbending to grab the scrolls in Appa's saddle, and as Sokka unrolled a map of the Earth Kingdom, the smell of smoke filled the air.

"Fire Nation," Aang said grimly, before airbending himself onto Appa's back. Sokka threw the maps up to him, but before either he or Katara could make another move, a blur of green and brown tumbled out of the trees. It was a boy, black-haired, breathing heavily, and his clothes were singed badly.

"Quick," he said anxiously, stomping out sparks that flew from his clothing. "Fire Nation soldiers are after me!"

"Give me your hand," Aang replied, making the decision to trust this strange new boy almost immediatley. Sokka and Katara climbed onto Appa behind him, but not before casting the stranger their own suspicious glances. Aang situated himself behind Appa's head.

"Appa, yip yip!"

As they rose into the air, Sokka pulled a map from where he had been sitting on it. "Okay, if we fly east for a while, I might be able to find our way to Omashu, but--"

"Omashu?" the new boy questioned, flicking ash off of his shoulder and sneezing as it flew up his nose. "Omashu's close; just bear east awhile and then go north."

"Hear that, Sokka?" Katara growled. "Omashu's _close_."

"Hey, don't blame me." Sokka held up his hands in surrender. "Momo's the one who's supposed to be able to smell Omashu. I'm Sokka." He stuck out his hand for the newcomer to shake. "Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe. I'm into meat, and sarcasm."

"I'm Taro of the Earth Kingdom." He gripped Sokka's hand firmly. "I'm into _not _getting caught by Fire Nation soldiers." Sokka laughed, all doubts about Taro vanishing with that tiny bit of humor.

"That's my naggy sister, Katara--"

"Hey!"

"--and Aang. He's the _Avatar_."

"Sokka!" Aang hissed. Taro smiled.

"S'okay. I'd actually love to travel with you guys for a while, if that's okay. You see, just recently those same Fire Nation soldiers that were chasing me... They, they murdered my family for being earthbenders."

"I am so sorry!" Katara gasped. Taro shrugged.

"We'd be glad to have you," Aang said. "It would be nice to have someone around who knows _where he's going_." Sokka made an indignant noise, and Katara smiled as the two began their usual friendly banter. She glanced at Taro, who quickly turned his gaze elsewhere, but not before she caught a glimpse of the coldness in his dark eyes.

XxXxX

"That messanger hawk has been following us for an hour now," Katara announced, collapsing the telescope and throwing it to Sokka, who took a look. The brown and red bird, harnessed with the insignia of the Fire Nation, swooped and dipped with the wind, but was obviously following the bison.

"It looks familiar," Taro said after Sokka handed him the telescope. "I think it was with the Fire Nation soldiers that were chasing me." Momo swooped off of Aang's shoulder and dove after the hawk, who gave a loud screech and commenced battle.

"Momo!" Aang said loudly, and the lemur retreated back to Appa, chattering all of the while at the irate hawk. "I don't think it means us any harm. It's not like it can tell the Fire Nation any information. Maybe we could tame it!" Sokka immediatley began trying to coax the hawk to come closer, using a handful of lichi nuts. which Momo promptly stole.

"Stop wasting the food, Sokka," Katara grumbled, while trying to get the hawk to come closer using hand gestures.

"You can't--" Taro began, and when both Katara and Sokka looked questioningly at him, he blushed. "I mean, messanger hawks'll only respond to what they were trained with, usually whistles. My father was a lover of birds, until..." He frowned, and then began trying different volumes and lengths of whistling, until he hit one which resonated with the hawk.

The bird swooped down and landed on Taro's outstrached arm. Katara nodded appriciatively as Taro began feeding it lichi nuts.

"What should we name it?" Aang questioned from his perch behind Appa's head. Taro opened his mouth to speak, but before he could utter a sound, Sokka broke in.

"How about... Wing-Ling?"

Taro and Katara both grimaced, and the hawk screeched again, which Sokka took as confirmation.

"He likes it. Wing-Ling it is! We can call him "Ling" for short!"

Aang slapped his forehead and Katara rolled her eyes. Taro held out a finger for "Ling" to hop onto, watching that the hawk's strategically sharpened claws didn't cut into his flesh, for the hawk wasn't used for delivering messages, but for a much more lethal purpose.

_Looks like _you _have a new name as well,_ Taro thought as he scratched behind his hawk's wing. _I guess it'll be Ling and Taro instead of Koroshiya and Raizo..._

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	3. Chapter 2

**Hey! Here we go with chapter two... Sorry if this is kind of redundant, I kind of wanted to look a bit deeper at Taro\Raizo, who's turning out to be quite bipolar :P**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Avatar and never will.**

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**Chapter Two:**

"There's the military base." Taro pointed over Aang's shoulder. "See it?" The airbender craned his neck and caught a glimpse of the building in the distance. He slapped Appa lightly with the leather reins, and the flying bison quickened his pace.

As they flew towards the Earth Kingdom military base, Taro leaned back and looked directly at Sokka. "Why're we heading towards this base, anyway? Wouldn't it just be easier to fly straight to Omashu?" The blue-eyed boy regarded him with a look of surprise.

"We're supposed to get an escort from a general at the base," Katara interrupted before her brother could say anything. "Aang _is _the Avatar, after all." Taro raised his eyebrows, but didn't reply. He simply turned his head to look down at the scenery quickly racing by as they sped towards the military base.

_I hate this mission, _he suddenly found himself thinking. _I could just kill the Avatar-- Aang-- and his friends and just be done with it. But what the all-powerful Ozai wants, he gets. _Taro smirked. At least he was safe to think what he really thought it the privacy of his own mind.

He glanced down at his stolen Earth Kingdom clothes, distaste flitting across his features. They were dirty and ragged, perfect for a runaway, but he sorely missed the rick, black clothing that he, as Raizo, was suited to. Singe marks of his own doing covered the sleeves and body of his outfit, some still smoking.

Yes, Raizo was a firebender_. Was_, because now he had a whole new identity as Taro, an identity that could hardly include firebending.

Not that he minded; as a rule, Raizo stuck almost exclusively to the small daggers that were currently hidden in his boots, or the sword resting in its sheath on his back, thin enough to easily slide between the ribs of an unsuspecting victim. That was Raizo's line of work; quick, efficient, and not a big show, which was how he regarded firebending. Magnificent, deadly, but flashy and attention-grabbing.

Definitely not Raizo's style.

The jolting of Appa's rough landing yanked Taro out of his pondering, and he slid off of the bison along with the Water Tribe siblings and Aang.

"Avatar Aang!" A booming voice reverberated around the courtyard in which they were standing, and a large, bearded man garbed in the attire of an Earth Kingdom general walked out of an arched doorway, arms outstretched. "And friends of the Avatar! Welcome to my base. I am General Fong."

XxXxX

Raizo lay in the bed that a lowly soldier had shown him to. It was on the end of a line of rooms; first his, then Katara's, then the room which Sokka and Aang shared. The ceiling which he was currently staring at was, like everything there, it seemed, decorated with the symbol of the Earth Kingdom. He felt himself begin to inadvertently miss the colors red and black.

Koroshiya, or _Ling _as that idiot Sokka had called him, was perched on a bedpost, head nestled under one wing. Raizo yawned and then stretched luxuriously, feeling his muscles groan in protest. Hours on a bison's back would do that to you.

_I wonder what the general wants, _he thought disdainfully, remembering Fong's request to meet with the four of them after they had slept. _Probably some ridiculous request involving the Avatar and his powers. Hopefully, though, it involves going into the Fire Nation, so my true colors can finally be shown._

But as Raizo slowly fell asleep, he knew that his mission wouldn't be completed that quickly.

XxXxX

Taro knocked urgently on the door to Aang and Sokka's room, Katara standing behind him, arms crossed over her chest.

"Why aren't they answering?" she questioned impatiently. Taro rolled his eyes when she wasn't looking and kicked down the door. As he stepped into the room, he expected the two boys to be on their feet, anticipating a fight; their door _had _been mutilated using a standard military kick. But both the Avatar and Sokka were sound asleep, mouths gaping open and limbs sprawled everywhere. Katara approached Aang while Taro thumped Sokka firmly on the forehead.

The Water Tribe boy shot upright so quickly that it was only Taro's sharpened instincts that saved him from getting a thump on _his _head. "Wha... Whazzhappening?" Sokka groaned quietly, rubbing his forehead.

"General Fong wants to meet with us, remember?" Katara said loudly, grabbing her brother's arm and yanking him out of bed, deaf to his protests. Aang dressed quickly, and after Sokka had pulled on his blue shirt and boots, all four of them walked towards the meeting chamber, Momo and Ling swooping above their heads.

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**So, about Taro\Raizo. I think I made it pretty easy to pick out, he's Taro when he's with the Gaang, and Raizo by himself or when he's thinking about himself. I hope it's not too confusing :)**

**Review, please!**

**:Hyperactive Lioness:**


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